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11/26/2009
District News
H1N1 VACCINATION CLINIC POSTPONED UNTIL DECEMBER 1
The H1N1 vaccination clinic that was scheduled for Lexington County School District Three students on November 18th at the Batesburg-Leesville High School Gym has been postponed until Tuesday, December 1st from 3:00pm until 7:00pm. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has not received enough vaccine to conduct the clinic as scheduled. Only those students who returned their parental consent forms to their respective schools by November 2nd will be eligible to have the H1N1 vaccinations on December 1. No additional students will be allowed to receive the vaccination at B-L High on December 1. Staff members who notified their school nurse by the deadline will also be eligible to have the H1N1 vaccination on December 1.
PARENTS TO HAVE ACCESS TO STUDENT INFORMATION VIA INTERNET
Parents of students at Batesburg-Leesville Elementary and High Schools will soon have access to view their child’s grades, attendance and teacher comments over the Internet through PowerSchool. Information on this new service went home with students at these two schools last week. In order to access this service, elementary and high school parents must complete the “Powerschool Access Information” form that was attached to the information letter and return that form to their child’s school. After the form has been returned, each parent will receive a user name and password to access their child’s records. Parents may access PowerSchool by going to the Internet and then powerschool.lex3.k12.sc.us/public or the Lexington Three website, www.lex3.k12.sc.us , parent portal.
Once the schools have received this completed form, parents will be assigned a user name and password. Please keep this information confidential so others do not have access to your student’s record.
Please remember that teachers will need adequate time in which to grade and post updated scores for students. If parents feel that something is incorrect, please email the child’s teacher or contact the school’s office.
Batesburg-Leesville Middle School will implement this same program at the beginning of second semester. Their letter and information form will go out with Interim reports in November. Batesburg-Leesville Primary School is in the process of redesigning the reporting of students’ progress and will not use the Powerschool access during the 2009-10 school year.
If you have questions, please contact your child’s school.
B-L HIGH FFA NOW SELLING HOLIDAY POINSETTIAS
The Batesburg-Leesville High School FFA chapter is now selling poinsettias for their fall fundraiser. Pre-orders are being taken now until December 1st. The delivery and pick up date is December 10 at B-L High.
Red, white and pink poinsettias are available and all will be sold in 6” pots wrapped in gold foil for $10 and 10” hanging baskets will be sold for $16.
For more information or to place an order, please contact Libby Templeton, FFA advisor, at 532-9251 ext. 7113 or email her at ltempleton@lex3.k12.sc.us.
LEXINGTON THREE IS ONE OF 8 DISTRICTS WITH 100% “HIGHLY QUALIFIED” TEACHERS
Lexington County School District Three recently received notification that it is one of eight school districts in South Carolina to have earned the status of having 100% of its teachers deemed “Highly Qualified.” Other districts earning this distinction are Anderson 2, Anderson 3, Anderson 4, Florence 3, Florence 5, Greenwood 52, and York 1. Fourteen other districts have greater than 99 percent HQ classes.
Districts earn the “Highly Qualified” status by having 100 percent of their core academic classes taught by highly qualified (HQ) teachers. “Highly Qualified” teachers are those that have (1) earned at least a bachelor’s degree, (2) demonstrated content knowledge in each core content area he/she teaches (core academic subjects are: English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics, government, economics, history, geography, dance, art and music), and (3) does not have any waivers of the requirements for full state certification. Certificates that meet the requirement for full state certification are: Initial, Critical Need (PACE), Professional, International, Intern, and Restricted.
“Our district is very proud of this distinction and of our faculty members who have the necessary credentials to receive the “Highly Qualified” status,” stated Assistant Superintendent, Robert Williams. “Having highly qualified teachers in all of our classes helps us to ensure that our students are receiving the best education possible.”
PRICE NAMED LEXINGTON THREE NAMED TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Mary Clare Price, a fifth grade teacher at Batesburg-Leesville Elementary School has been named as the 2009-10 Lexington County School District Three Teacher of the Year. The announcement was made during a district-wide assembly at the Fine Arts Center on September 16th. Other finalists included: Linda Harris, second grade teacher at Batesburg-Leesville Primary School; Lynn Paxton, resource and English/Language Arts teacher at Batesburg-Leesville Middle School; and Wendi Fincher, math teacher at Batesburg-Leesville High School.During the ceremony, Lexington Three superintendent, Dr. Chester Floyd and 2008-09 District Teacher of the Year, Betsy McEwen presented each of the finalists with flowers, engraved door plaques and engraved beveled glass awards. Each of the three finalists will also have the opportunity to purchase $50 in merchandise from their favorite educational supplier. The district Teacher of the Year will have $100 to purchase merchandise for their classroom. All of these items were gifts from District Three. Walgreens of Batesburg-Leesville also provided a $50 gift card for the district Teacher of the Year to use at her discretion.
Mrs. Price and her fellow finalists were selected by their peers last spring to represent their respective schools during the 2009-10 Teacher of the Year competition. All finalists completed the South Carolina Department of Education Teacher of the Year application. A panel of independent judges then reviewed the applications of all four district finalists and conducted personal interviews and classroom visits. The judges were very impressed with the four candidates and said that it was a very difficult decision to pick just one.
Personal information and their philosophy of teaching on each finalists follows:
LINDA HARRIS – Mrs. Harris has taught second grade at B-L Primary School for 9 years and been in the field of education for 20 years. In addition to teaching at B-L Primary, Linda also taught in Edgefield County Schools. She earned a Masters in Early Childhood Education from Lander University and also holds a BS in Business Administration from USC. She is a member of Alpha Delta Kappa-Phi chapter and was treasurer of that organization from 2004-08. She has also been a member of the Primary School Leadership Team since 2005 and was selected as the school’s Teacher of the Year in 2001-02. Linda’s philosophy of teaching is: “Teaching is a huge responsibility and honor. As teachers, we are entrusted to positively influence the lives of the children that will be our future. There are three basic things that I feel are vital to being an effective teacher and providing that positive educational experience that every child deserves. These three things are that every child should be safe, respected and loved; all individuals have different areas of strengths and weaknesses; and there must be a strong sense of support and connection between the school and home.”
MARY CLARE PRICE – Mary Clare Price has taught fifth grade at Batesburg-Leesville Elementary School for three years. Before coming to B-L Elementary, she taught in Lexington Four. She holds a Masters +30 hours certificate, a Master of Education in Literacy from Lesley University and a BA in Elementary Education from Columbia College. She is a member of Alpha Delta Kappa and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She was also a 2006 Teacher of the Year finalist for Sandhills Elementary School. Her philosophy of teaching is: “Teaching children is a gift. As a teacher, I am aware that I impact each student that enters my classroom daily. My goal is to make each of their educational experiences meaningful and beneficial. My philosophy of education is centered on the fact that I believe each child should have the opportunity to achieve a quality education. This means a comfortable setting, meaningful instruction, innovative technology, and a plethora of resources which all work together to make a maximum learning experience possible.”
LYNN PAXTON – has served as a Resource and English/Language Arts teacher at Batesburg-Leesville Middle School for seven years. She has taught in Lexington Three for her entire 16 years, including years at B-L Primary and High Schools. Lynn also teaches in the Batesburg-Leesville Middle School Afterschool Program. She holds a Masters of Education with emphasis in TMD and a BS in Special Education from Winthrop University. She serves as Special Education department chair at B-L Middle and as PBIS Lead teacher. She is a member of the School Leadership Team and is a certified ADEPT evaluator. Lynn’s philosophy of teaching is ““Teachers have an incredible amount of influence over the lives of their students. Along with this privilege comes an increased responsibility to them. It is a teacher’s moral obligation to enter her classroom with the highest of expectations for each individual. It is my belief that each child has the potential to give something unique and personal to the world. I, as an educator, see my students as capable individuals who can express their thoughts and nurture their ideas. I do not “direct” my students, but instead, draw out “their” potential by serving merely as a facilitator to their discoveries.”
WENDI FINCHER – Mrs. Fincher has taught math at Batesburg-Leesville High School for three years. Prior to going to B-L High, Wendi taught for 12 years at JET Middle, B-L Middle, Hollywood Middle, and King Academy and currently teaches evening classes at Piedmont Technical College. She is a member of Alpha Delta Kappa and as served as Historian for that group since 2006. She is a member of the Batesburg-Leesville Education Association and serves as secretary/treasurer for them and is a member of the Advisee/Advisor Committee for the High Schools that Work Support Program. Wendi’s philosophy of teaching is: “We, as the teachers, must be able to lead the group cohesively and still allow individuality and personality to show through. As important as learning how to factor and when to use the Pythagorean Theorem are to me, I also find great importance is preparing students for the critical thinking required in day-to-day life, college, and the workplace. Using state standards, I weave technology and application procedures to make learning applicable. We should be held accountable for challenging our students to always do their best, encouraging the un-encouragable, nurturing those who resist, and showing that the whole educational experience is relevant.”
Mrs. Price will now represent Lexington Three in the state Teacher of the Year program which will be held after the first of the year. She will also represent the district at statewide teacher forum meetings and will have an opportunity to meet with other Teachers of the Year from across the state at various conferences. The South Carolina Teacher of the Year will be announced in May 2010 in Columbia.
Congratulations to Mrs. Price and to the other finalists.
